


The Land of Walking Mountains

by bamboofoxfireproductions



Series: Nightfall by Le'letha Spin-off Stories [3]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Shadow of the Colossus
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-07 04:37:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5443586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bamboofoxfireproductions/pseuds/bamboofoxfireproductions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiccup and Toothless flee from long-buried nightmares that continue to haunt them, but the farther they flee away from them, the closer they come to re-discovering that which they are running from.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Land of Walking Mountains

Darkness breaks to give way to another. The first darkness is one that is usually warm and comforting where he is wrapped around by his partner _-love_ 's scales and wings and curl of two bodies warmed by heart-fires and their shared dragon-scent that only further reinforces that they are _one_ entity, complete only when they are together. The second is a darkness that is not like his other half but it is still a large part of both of them, a darkness that is not warm but touched by crisp sea wind and sprinkled with spots of small stars glistening like morning dew where it is quiet and calm and where they are hidden perfectly as they fly.

Tonight is not a night of _lazy_ and _content happy warm_ cuddling and _purring happy you me we us love you love you love you_.

Tonight is terror and pain.

It is not a terror that comes from an enemy or a wild creature that is hunting them or from hunting _pfikingr_ \- Vikings. The pain is not a kind that comes from bruises or broken bones or cuts or open wounds that is unpleasant but that they know will heal. The terror and the pain comes from inside himself and it is as familiar as it is foreign to Hiccup.

It started first with a raid on _pfikingr_. It was a small place. He has seen many _pfikingr_ nests before and knows that there are big and small nests and while _pfikingr_ are dumb and slow, cannot speak and cannot fly, they make many interesting things. They are good to take food from but sometimes they are even better to take _pfikingr_ things from and especially when they are things Hiccup finds useful but does not have the knowledge to make for himself like string or metal sharp-things. The night is the best time to raid because they are hard to see, even harder than their nest mates and cousins because they disappear from sight when it is dark with their black scales and they are _clever_ and _watchful_ and _good very sneaky night hunters_.

It is when they are _sneaking_ and _quiet careful careful looking lookatthis curious interesting wary wonder_ that a _pfikingr_ suddenly shows itself, but this one is small and young and scared, nothing more than a hatchling. _Pfikingr_ are enemies and bad killers of dragons but this one poses no threat; it is barely bigger than small-cousin dragons, clinging to a wooden wall and staring at them with wide eyes.

The two-who-are-one detest _pfikingr,_ but they will not attack a hatchling, even if it is human - there is no reason to, because they do not eat humans. Though some dragons do, their nest does not(what Hiccup forgets is that this is because, while he is not aware of it, he is human in form, and so was his mother, who protected their flock when she was alive; if their flock ever preyed on humans as food, they have since stopped) - and parents of hatchlings are very protective and more dangerous than anything.

The little human hatchling that is afraid of them however is also curious and does not make a sound or move for a while, and when they do not show they will be a threat and stay quiet because they do not want bigger _pfikingr_ to hear them and come running to attack it comes closer to investigate them and is too _trusting_ and _not cautious_ and they back away.

They do not want the hatchling to get close to them! It will invite the mother and father _pfikingr_ to attack them if they are too close!

Toothless splays his wings to make himself bigger and bares his fangs though he does not growl too loud because they are still _sneaking_ and the hatchling finally hesitates but it is not enough to make them run away or stop completely and then there is a _noise_ and it is _pfikingr_ and what they did not want to happen does: a She _pfikingr_ appears, one that they know to be this hatchling's mother, and it immediately screams at them in a mixture of _surprise_ and _fear_ and _outrage_.

She raises a sharp thing and both dragon and dragon-man snarl at her and there is only a small open space to escape through. They would blast fire to defend themselves if needed normally but there is still a hatchling and they are _trespassers_ and this is a _mother defending her hatchling_ as a good mother should!

She leaps in front of her hatchling and bares her sharp thing and teeth that are too dull to be good weapons but that make the message clear to them as she is _screaming_ and _howling_. Fear is gone, now she is nothing but fearless savagery, a creature that will willingly die if she must to keep her hatchling safe, a creature that intimidates even the two of them because they _know_ what protective mothers will do and they are not a force to be fought against. They may kill her if she goes against them, but she will be sure to kill them too; they see this in her eyes and they do not doubt it.

They shy away, and Toothless folds his wings in. There is nowhere to fly in this small space anyway and too little room to fight properly without being caught on the sharp-thing, they need to get out the opening to _freedom_ but if they move too fast and sudden they know they might startle the _pfikingr_ hatchling-mother to attack them so they try to show they are no threat to her hatchling by looking as small as they can and being as far away as they can so that scales press against walls of wood and they croon a low sound of _sorry no threat surrender peace we go we go yes hatchling safe no harm sorry_.

She is standing firm between them and her hatchling and does not charge at them but neither does she retreat. She is staring at them too intensely and they do not know what she will do and they do not move because they do not want to appear that they are going to lunge or that they are stalking her.

Hiccup is watching her closely and he sees something in those eyes; it is something he doesn't know, yet its familiar, and there is something in her eyes too that is like _recognition_ and _confusion_ and _hesitation_ that comes with being faced with something entirely unknown and it is that which keeps her from lunging immediately. She turns her head, ever so slightly, and hisses things neither Hiccup nor Toothless can understand. When nothing moves, she turns her head slightly more, and snarls at the little hatchling that soon darts away and out of sight.

As soon as her head is turned and the hatchling is running to hide, they leap for the hole that connects inside to outside. It is barely big enough for them both to fit through, but they manage it and immediately launch into the sky. There are shouts and snarls and _pfikingr_ running that heard the mother's shouts, but by now the _pfikingr_ nest is at their tail and they have no intentions of turning back for it. At their tail is _danger_ and _angry mad killer pfikingr_ and they are glad to be _free_ and _away_ and _flying_ where nothing can touch and hurt them.

There is something about the She _pfikingr's_ eyes as she stared at them that troubled Hiccup more than Toothless, something about the scene that seemed familiar and teased his memory like a bad itch in a place he could not reach with his own paws, but it is an itch that is soon forgotten when he and his Toothless _-heart of mine_ land in a place that is safe and far from any _pfikingr_ where they can curl in a pile of black scales and purrs of _reassurance_ and _love love love_ and _safe you me we us yes yes_. It is a place where they can hunt and rest before they fly to somewhere else and explore new places and not have to watch too vigilantly though they are practiced wild animals and even when they are resting and tired they know to keep at least one of their eyes and ears and noses open for threats.

It is when he sleeps finally that the things that troubled him about the encounter against the _pfikingr_ hatchling-mother come back to stalk and hunt him and brings with it things that he has long ago forgotten because to remember hurts too much.

Hiccup does not know it, but he is human. Both his mother and father were of the same variety that he now hates and fears. Thirteen years its been since he last had any proper human interaction; since his mother died. He does not recall her face, and as far as he is concerned, she was a dragon. The bigger dragon in their nest known as Cloudjumper was her mate, and he still lives. Hiccup and Toothless are _his_ hatchlings, or so they believe and see things as.

Ever since Cloudjumper took Hiccup and his mother from a _pfikingr_ village - though Hiccup does not remember it, for he was too small - he has lived among dragons, and they have all accepted him as a part of the Nest. Any human words he knew have long since fled his speech and only a few last in memory though they are garbled and barely recognizable to human ears.

Another thing that he does not remember well is his mother's death. The memory of it is too raw and painful, and so he's repressed it since a young age. All that he knows is that she was there and now she is gone. The rest is not something he wants to or can think of.

Now, though, the memory haunts his sleep. Its a memory of a mother - _his_ mother - standing between them and _pfikingr_ , and who dies for them, to save them from trappers who hunt dragons. Its as abstract as it is vivid. Many details have been lost to time and perception of what a dragon's world is. She is not another _pfikingr_ fighting off the killers but a dragon that is like he sees himself, different from his kin but still of the Nest and their kind.

She is fighting and defending them, but she is outmatched and she goes down under the weapons of the _pfikingr_. There's blood and stillness where there should not be. He screams a dragon wail of fright and horror that is echoed by Toothless. The _pfikingr_ are quick to pounce after them, and there is much chaos and struggling. Both he and Toothless keen in fear and outrage, biting and clawing, but they are small and vulnerable by comparison. Hiccup doesn't even hear the _pfikingr_ and barely hears his own screams or Toothless's because of how loud with panic the blood rushes through his ears and he claws and bites even though he has no sharp fangs or talons or fire. All he knows at the moment is raw survival and he lashes out on instinct where he would normally flee but there is a big weight keeping him from running or flying away on Toothless and so he must fight.

Through the haze of darkness and obscurity and thrashing there are whimpers and croons that only further muddle the chaos until its all a blur and he can't tell up from down. He's writhing and clawing but then even his paws have a weight on them so he can barely move. The shapes fade and there is darkness again. The weight on top of him rumbles deep concern that makes him pause in confusion.

Toothless whistles at him _worry you sleep-fighting-scared you dreaming terrified bad nightmares safe love love love you gotyou safe love you yes calm concern no threat calm love_ and watches him with _caring_ and _reassurance_. Hiccup realizes now that he can't move his paws because Toothless is pinning them with his own and the rest of him is trapped under the bigger dragon's chest. Toothless moves to let him free as soon as he has started to wake up to his surroundings and left the nightmares behind.

Hiccup returns _confused scared terrified unsure bad dreaming unsteady confused_ as he instinctively scans the area for threats though there are none and he does not think Toothless would let any get close if there had been any real danger. Even so, the _fear_ and _threat_ and _pain_ from the dream still prickles every inch of him and he can't help but press close to Toothless's side tightly. There's some warm wetness and grooves that touch his cheek and even though Toothless makes no noise to indicate it Hiccup feels the dragon squirm slightly to the side and he realizes that there are scratches through his Toothless _-heart of mine_ 's scales that were not there before.

He can't help but sit back in surprise and try to see them though there is little light to see by. Even so, he can get an impression of where they are and reaches out to see how bad they are and it is then that he realizes also that he is wearing his claws even though he does not remember baring them. That's when the realization hits that _he_ left these scratches on his Toothless- _love_!

He whines a distressed _apology sorry hurt love you horror you bleeding my fault sorry love bad me you hurt!_ but Toothless is far less worried over it and more so over his dragon-boy who was so distraught he was crying out and fighting frantically in his sleep and did not mean to injure him, reassuring _no no no love forgive you not-your-fault sleep-fighting scared small understand forgiven you love love you yes small hurting not bad worried love you better now?_ as he curls protectively around his partner and nuzzles him with his nose in affection.

Hiccup purrs appreciation as _love love love yes apology you hurt love sad regret love_ which soon melts into whimpers of his nightmares and things that he remembers but does not want to and of which his mind is already trying to erase. _Sadness longing nightmares small scared hatchling love loss grief sadness mama Aka_. The remembrance is an absent one that he doesn't and tries not to think of.

He does not want to think of the one who was their mother and who was Cloudjumper's mate; of traps and _pfikingr_ who attacked them as they were trying to find and free innocent dragons; of how they pounced at her with sharp-things and bashing-things and-

Toothless croons at him _calm love easy breathing you mine safe good here we us breathe rest you love love you love you calm_ and Hiccup realizes he has been chattering all of this with enough tension that he is worrying his dragon-half, instinctively burying his face into Toothless's flank so that he can shut out the memories and drown them under his beloved's dragon scent and the feel of warm scales and heart-fire.

It is a thing he is determined to forget even as he's already doing so, but what he wants to forget keeps buzzing in his ears like a hive of angry bees that he can't shake out of his ears and is stinging his insides and his heart and made him claw his Toothless- _heart of mine_ in trying to swat them and the nightmares away and he knows that if he tries to sleep again they will swarm even worse.

Yowling this distress quietly, he leaps onto Toothless's back and tugs on the fly-with, signaling _Up up! Flying!_

If he cannot swat away the nightmares and the stinging thoughts, maybe they can outfly them, faster and more clever than any other dragon because together they are the _best_ of dragons and they will either escape any enemy together or they will fight it and win together.

Toothless obliges and launches into the air, and they fly fast and hard and crazy and high, chasing the moon until they are breathless and then chasing it more. They will fly and fly until either they are too tired to fly any farther or the shadows that haunt them now give up.

And indeed they fly far, and after a long time of drinking in the sharp wind and the salt of the ocean, the shadow gives up, left far behind at their tail.

Exhilarated and relieved but exhausted, they search for a place to land and spy the rise of stone cliffs on the horizon and white birds flitting through the sky at its edge. There are no visual signs of humans or detectable scent of them carried on the breeze, and so far they have seen and smelled no dragons come to defend a claimed territory, so they deem it will probably be a good place to set down, at least for a short while.

There are tall, grassy cliffs with a big cave opening straight ahead, so that is where they head for first, landing and testing the sights and sounds and smells for signs of anything that might be of danger to them or of dragons who do not feel like sharing their territory with strangers.

All that they can smell is grass under-paw and saltwater and sun-bleached stone; no dragon-scent, and no humans. There are seagulls that complain above them, but they ignore the sound; they do not care what opinion seagulls, who are loud and stupid, have of them anyway.

Curiously, there are black shapes crawling through the grass and up the walls. They look like very small dragons without wings, but there is no scent that suggests they are dragons and no noise of talking that they have heard. Hiccup and Toothless both whistle curiously, unsure what to think of the creatures; are they other dragons or something else?

They wonder back and forth that maybe these dragons are silent because they are too small to defend a territory, so maybe they do not make noise to keep from becoming prey to other things.

They stalk closer, trying not to look too big by crawling close to the ground but at the same time trying not to look like they are hunting by showing their throats only a little, voicing curiously _greeting we us Tt-(click)-th-uhp-ss friendly dragons no-threat good good dragons us you dragon small cousins you curious maybe perhaps?_

One of them looks up at the two black dragons, tilting its head and watching with large eyes. For a moment it is completely still, freezing like stone, then suddenly it turns and dashes away through the grass and up a wall. Hiccup trills in wonder at how it manages to stay even on stone where it is almost completely smooth and there is very little to snag claws into. Even some of the best climbers in the Nest need a ledge or crack to hold onto with their claws to climb like that.

They stalk a few more, trying to see if any know how to talk, but they're greeted only by silence and running away. During that time, he and his Toothless-half come to an agreement that these are probably not dragons even if they look a little similar. They have legs and heads and eyes and scales like dragons but no wings and they do not talk. Fish also have scales and swim like some cousins do but they and the nest all agree that fish are a preything and therefore food, though they can't seem to decide between themselves if lizards are good-to-eat or not or if they are comfortable with trying to eat them.

Toothless has done most of their flying however, and tires of hunting and deciding what he thinks of them for now. He stretches out in the sun instead, basking in the warmth and the wind while his Hiccup-self continues to stalk lizards so he can figure out for them both if they are food or not.

Some he manages to knock off the stone walls and others he pounces on and finds that lizards do not have very good teeth to bite with, though they do make noise when they are alarmed that sounds like a hiss or maybe like some kinds of bugs that scream and croak loudly. One, much to his surprise, hisses and flails, and then its tail comes off and it runs away without it. He's so surprised in fact that he leaps back and stalks the tail for a while, waiting to see if it will maybe move all on its own, or if it is a trap, or a trick of some kind. The lizard, though giving him what he reads as a glare from somewhere farther away, doesn't seem terribly inconvenienced.

Hiccup croons a sound between _curious strange_ and _sympathy tail gone_. Its a sympathy he feels for himself as much as for the lizard he pounced on. He would like a tail of his own. Tails are useful things. One day he is sure he will have one, even if he has to make one for himself as he did his own wings because he was too impatient to wait any longer for his wings to grow in so he can fly like his nest-kin.

The lizard tail he toys with between clever paws and tastes experimentally but does not eat. It has a taste like red meat, and while raw fish is okay for him to eat, raw meat makes him sick. He is hungry but he can wait for Toothless to rest before they go hunting and knows that he might find berries or nuts or other wild plants that are good-to-eat in the meantime.

He leaves the tail where it detached, and its not long before seagulls swoop in to grab it and quickly fly away as soon as his back is turned.

Exploring further, he creeps along the long cave, which is really more of a tunnel. The sound of the wind and waves crashing against the bottom of the cliffs is much louder inside, and he tries to focus his attention on other sounds besides the ocean and lizards clamoring up the walls to get away from him, some that hang upside down from the top.

He's careful peering out of the tunnel's other end, where on one side the rocks rise higher than his head with ledges where something could hide, and on the other side is a long boulder where something could be crouched behind, though he can see at the far end that the land slopes down so he will have an advantage of being higher.

The wind is blowing the wrong way to scent for danger, and if there is an enemy, they probably will have smelled him and could be hiding ready-to-pounce. Hiccup scrabbles up the longer boulder on one side, already armed with his claws and prepared to fight or flee if he needs to. Luckily, there is nothing there.

Perched on the rock, he turns to see the higher rock ledges on the other side, craning up on only his back legs. There's nothing there except for stone, but he is a wild animal and there is always a bigger predator somewhere and this place is new to him. He has to be alert.

Satisfied that there is no danger to worry about, he hops down and approaches the higher rocks, which are easy to climb and will give him a better view of the territory. Just as he is beginning to scale upwards, Toothless finds him, having decided that his dragon-boy has been out of sight too long for his liking, chirring _careful caution new place careful love_.

Hiccup reassures _yes yes careful will-be_. And he is, moving almost-silent and barely poking his head over the ledge to scan for enemies or traps, every limb bunched beneath him ready to spring backwards if something attacks so that it cannot catch him and he will be clear of Toothless's fire-blast.

_Safe empty no-threat_ he confirms before climbing the rest of the way and Toothless follows him, checking again by inhaling the air for smells. There is a big flat space with many smaller ledges at the far side and there is a taller, narrow ridge that is just wide enough for Toothless to lay on and let his wings overhang the sides.

From the farthest edge of it, they can see a huge expanse of grass fields, uninterrupted by anything other than fangs of stone rising out of the land and a few cliff edges that elevate parts of the field higher. Beyond the hills are more cliffs inland, and in the center of them is the opening of what looks like a long ravine. Just around the bend of the ravine, it looks as though there is a very tall and jagged mountain.

What is most strange is that there are no animals they can see besides lizards and birds, one of which is a questionable food option for Hiccup and the other is something he knows he can't eat. The ocean is still close, and it is more than likely to have fish, so he doesn't worry.

They can't see any place where there is water besides the ocean though, and that is a problem because they cannot drink ocean water and they have not drunk in almost two days. If they are very desperate, they might be able to get water from dew on the grass, because there is no snow here, but it won't be enough to sustain them for long.

Hiccup complains about this to Toothless, whining _thirsty thirsty no water here searching no water_ and proposes _farther maybe?_

Toothless can't help but agree. He's thirsty too, more than he is tired. He can rest his wings and they can walk for a while since there are no threats anywhere and they can see for a long ways off, and they cannot wait much more to find something to drink.

They decide to follow the shore north and are rewarded quite quickly, finding a cluster of trees and a pond where rainwater has collected and there are turtles there. Hiccup knows of sea turtles because some of his nestmates who hunt in the ocean have brought them to the nest on the rare occasion. Turtles, as it turns out, do not do well in the cold, and they are not a very good or easy source of food because they have shells that are very hard like rock which are difficult to break open.

He has never seen a land turtle before though, and they are even more interesting than sea turtles because they hide inside their hard shells completely and end up looking like strangely patterned rocks. They are not a very good source of food, but provide some entertainment, giving him and Toothless a toy to throw back and forth to each other and around the field and try to figure out how to open the shell in various attempts just as Hiccup is able to open clam or crab shells to get the meat inside.

Turtles, as it turns out, also bite. This he finds out when the one they've chosen to play and experiment with bites his nose as he's trying to look inside and refuses to let go as it also hides in its shell. At first its a distressing experience, with dragon and dragon-boy alike yowling loudly at it(one in outrage and the other in pain and exasperation), but at some point it becomes amusing when trying to pull it off doesn't work and leaves Hiccup shaking his head and trying to dislodge it without success so it looks like his face is being attacked by a rock.

(Toothless tries very hard not to laugh at the sight and fails, even as he simultaneously feels sympathy for his dragon-boy and angry at the turtle for causing him pain.)

When he finally does get it off, its luckily without losing his nose and Hiccup has decided he no longer finds turtles a fun distraction, carelessly throwing it somewhere far away so he can mope in embarrassment even as Toothless licks his fur away from his face and croons sympathy and love.

Hunger drives them to forget about it before long, and some of the larger trees around them are full of the biggest fruits that either of them have ever seen. Hiccup eats mostly a dragon's diet of raw fish, but he experiments with other foods as he finds them, and fruit is rarely a bad find unless it is a kind that makes him sick which he is sure to remember which ones do or don't.

These particular fruit he has never seen before - some are brown and rough on the outside, others are long and orange with stripes of ridges - and he tries them cautiously in case they are kinds that will make him sick. They're fine, and he ends up curled against Toothless's scales eating them and licking the sticky juices from his paws. Toothless decides at the same time that lizards are not a bad choice in food after watching a hawk pounce on one nearby, though he is far from full off of the few they find in the grass for him to eat.

The rest of the day is devoted to taking turns sleeping in the sun. The biggest thing to disturb their rest are eagles that occasionally hover overhead and curious white birds that are not seagulls and make a sort of purring- _hooo_ sound.

After being content to simply lay against his Toothless _-love_ and enjoy being alone-together in a place that is foreign but peaceful and so-far-safe, Hiccup goes to explore a stone fang that he finds more curious than others. It is yellow-green and at least as tall as Toothless is long from nose-to-tail, and made out of smaller square rocks that mirror on each side perfectly, with ledges and covered in moss and vines. Parts of it look carved, like objects he's seen in human nests.

There's no scent or clear indication of their presence, but his mind screams at him that this is a _pfikingr_ thing.

Toothless realizes the same thing and rumbles _wary caution distrust threat maybe trap careful_.

Hiccup knows its a possibility, but he isn't hugely worried. If it is a trap, it will only get one of them, and the other will be free to help him escape it. Besides, they have seen and heard nothing of _pfikingr_ , and many plants grow in and out of the stones as if it has been alone for a very long time. There are no scents and the grass looks undisturbed, as if nothing had walked through in ages to flatten a path. As far as he can tell, if it was made by human paws, its since been abandoned.

_Safe probably abandoned no stink human stink gone_.

_Careful still,_ Toothless insists, only taking his eyes off of Hiccup so that he can scan the long fields and sniff the air in case there is a predator somewhere in wait for them.

In the end, there are no traps. It is only a big stone space, maybe a shelter of some kind once. At the top of it, Hiccup perches to get a better look at the land and clicks for attention, indicating the stone thing with a slap of his paw and pointing as he chirps _More!_

Climbing up higher, Toothless can see them too. Its hard to see them clearly from a long distance, but from what can be seen, they're probably identical to this one.

_Curious wondering you think curious?_ Hiccup asks aloud. He doesn't know what the stone-things might be. Maybe Toothless will have a better idea.

_Unknown strange curious wary_. Vikings don't really make sense anyway, and Toothless doesn't really try to understand them. He has no better explanation than Hiccup does.

_Nest?_ Hiccup guesses, but humans typically have bigger nests that are made of wood and closed-off.

Toothless only shrugs a _don't-know_.

Hiccup hums a while longer, thinking. _Seeing perch?_

Toothless warbles uncertain agreement. Dragons can fly, so they can see from as high as they want. Humans cannot; having a perch higher up would be an advantage for hunting and watching for danger. If he had no wings of his own to see from the sky, it was what he would probably do.

_Humans go?_ Hiccup continues, thoughtful. Toothless can't say for sure, but he hopes so. Humans are good for stealing from, but they are also killers of dragons, and are best avoided.

_Hopeful yes maybe no smell maybe go_. The only way to know for sure is to explore. Until they're certain, they'll have to be cautious.

They follow the cliffs that border the ocean for a long ways, until reaching the highest point where there are more trees overlooking the water. Most noticeable is that there are only some lizards and turtles and birds the entire way. There are no hares or pigs or deer or foxes or wolves or bears or humans, and most of all, there are no dragons. Not even in the far distance.

The lands they've found are big, but they are made even bigger by the fact that almost nothing lives here.

_Strange quiet wrong empty curious worried paranoid quiet_... Hiccup voices against Toothless's ear, coiling his paws around the straps of the fly-with nervously. There is a part of his mind that tells him there must be a good reason why nothing lives here. That perhaps it is unsafe and there is an enemy waiting for them to drop their guard or be caught unaware by false peacefulness and then when they are stretched out in the sun asleep it will leap out and bite into their spines or their throats.

_Easy breathe calm love peace relax,_ Toothless comforts, but he knows that something about this place is off too. He does not feel as though they are being stalked, but he agrees that there should be more living things in a place like this. There must be something wrong that almost nothing seems to live here, so devoid of other things that they can hear the wind moan as if the land itself were a speaking creature.

When they head away from the coast, it is through a narrow valley of green space and stone. Ahead of them is another human-stone spire, and to the side is a dusty canyon path that takes them to another field of grass.

Its here that the tall mountain they saw from a distance poking over the other cliffs appears before them. Its like a much larger version of the stone spires covered in moss they saw before, but it has many more open spaces of caves, and there are all manner of trees and bushes growing outward from it. Part of the mountain looks crafted by humans, and other parts look natural, weathered smooth. Behind the mountain is a long, straight pathway far above the ground and standing on many long legs; the tall pathway itself stretches on so far that the other side disappears from sight even without anything else obstructing the view.

At first, they give the mountain a wide berth, circling around and watching it for movement. After many times circling, there is nothing but more birds, so they move closer and land on one of the highest ledges to look directly down. Some of the sun's light reaches inside, but much of it is in shadow. They hop from one perch to another, steadily going downward. Nothing confronts them, so they gain confidence and go further, until finding a cave that has square edges and small streams of fresh water running through it.

In the center, they find an opening in the floor, which leads to another cave under them. The first cave had been overgrown with grass and trees and water. The next one they entered was all carved into patterns, and on both sides of the room, they were watched by monsters made of stone.

At first, they startled, crouching and snarling defensively. The cave snarled back at them, but it is the sound of themselves echoing, and after a while of crouching and showing their teeth at the stone-monsters, they relax. The stone doesn't move, and it is not the first time they've encountered statues, which humans like to create sometimes around their nests.

Inhaling deeply, the only thing they can smell is dust and stone and cold and wind. If this was a _pfikingr_ nest at one point, it has long since ceased to be.

He and Toothless have seen many statues - some of stone and some of wood - but none have been like these ones. Most of the time, statues are in the likeness of _pfikingr_ themselves. These ones are more like dragons of all kinds, though some have a vaguely human-like impression to them. Each of them has their own space inside alcoves of rock, and Hiccup assumes that each is in a nest of its own.

Going down the line on one side, he tries to identify what each is. Some, he decides, are not dragons at all. Most have markings of red and blue colors that are fading away.

The first one he sees is - he thinks - definitely a _pfikingr_ , with fur hanging from its face.

The second, he is unsure of, but it holds a weapon in its paws even though it looks like it has huge teeth, which humans do not.

The next one he identifies as a bird by its beak.

The one after that makes him uneasy as it is either a snake coiled around and around itself or it is an eel, both of which are bad news for dragons.

Another has a huge head, and he decides it is probably a dragon.

After that has tusks out the side of its jaws, so it must be a boar, which is both prey and threat.

Another eel or snake.

Then another he assumes might be a human or might be a yak.

On the other side are even more. The first-next two he has no reference to compare to - they are like trees, one with a face and a snarl. Those two so far confuse him most.

The one after those is easily a yak. He can tell by the two big horns on its head.

He finds another eel and growls at it warily.

The next is a dragon with many frills on its neck.

The one after that he thinks may be a bear.

Then there is another he can't identify, but he goes with it being another dragon at the end.

The very last, he assumes to be a goat, because it has horns that go back and then curl down and forward.

The only sounds are the wind and their claws scratching on the stone and chattering as he and Toothless vocalize and identify the creatures made in the stone. Approaching curiously, Hiccup gingerly touches his paws to one of the statues, because he has never known statues to move or attack - they are just shapes in rock. There is a cold inside of the statues, colder than any ice, and it melts through the claws that protect his soft paws underneath and travels all the way up to draft his heart-fire, making him shiver.

It is not only a cold. It is a wrongness. These statues are different from the ones he has seen and touched before. There is almost a pulse to them, like it has a big beating heart inside, but it is everything opposite of the warmth of his Toothless-self and his nestmates, cold as deepest winter that freezes dragons in flight and makes the tops of the ocean solid. Even colder still.

He backs away from the statues, crouched and bristling at the coldest wrongness, pawing at his chest where some of its ice has settled deep in his heart-fire and not yet melted away, chattering _caution bad wrong cold wary fear wrong heart-fire frozen bad confusion strange wrong threat maybe!_ and alerting Toothless to stay away so that it does not have a chance to try and steal or freeze his beloved's heart-fire as it tried to do to him.

Toothless is quick to heed the warning and come to his side, pressing their flanks together and warbling _concern worry you heart-fire you bad cold heart-fire you?_

Hiccup hums uncertainty and presses into Toothless's side where their share heart-fires which are strongest together can melt the cold away. There is ice and fear in his chest that makes him bristle and does not want to leave easily, and both the fear and ice make him shiver a little. _Cold somewhat ice we us heart-fire good safe warm no worry_ he tries to reassure.

They are two-who-are-one, and they can flee together or fight together. He is unsettled by the feeling that snuck through his paws but he trusts in their together-strength and warmth unconditionally.

But there is still a raw fear there, like none he has ever felt before, and he thinks that Toothless can feel it too, because they are both suddenly much more tense.

Movement catches their eyes and they turn, and what they see is new and horrifying.

From the ground, there are deep shadows, and those shadows are digging their way up from the ground, cast by nothing. Hiccup can feel Toothless hackle next to him and bare his fangs at the shadows, of which there are many, and though they are smaller than Toothless, they are about the same size as Hiccup, and they crouch and move across the ground almost-the-same.

It is confusing, because Hiccup - while he knows he is half of Toothless and together they are one dragon - has never seen another dragon like himself, black and with long legs but that walk and hop mostly on their rear ones, and they lack their own wings just as he does.

There is something about them that is wrong just like the coldness from the statues though. They carry no scent, but he can almost detect them like a bad smell in the air. They don't really make noise, but its almost as if he can hear them hiss and snarl at him. They have no eyes, but he feels watched and hunted like a too-small preything. Everything about them makes him prickle and his instinct scream _THREAT! DANGER!_

Toothless felt the exact same, and he whistled fire deep in his chest in only the briefest of warnings as the shadows sauntered forward, hunting them with full confidence out in plain view. Toothless blasted two of them, and they vanished like smoke, so Toothless blasted at the rest again and again until they all disappeared.

They were really very little of a threat at all.

Suddenly there is a loud _BOOM_ in the sky that they know as thunder, and the light from the circular opening in the ceiling becomes more intense, while the air becomes so heavy and thick that they are gasping and drowning in it!

It is like waves in a storm that have caught careless dragons by their wings who have flown too low and now tosses them back and forth like a mouse between paws! Each time they try to find the surface, the break out of the waves for air and to reach the sky again, it grabs them with its claws and tears them back down, numbing limbs and freezing heart-fires, taking away their strength and will to keep trying for air! If they find the surface, it punishes them with another wave, smacking them back down as if delivering a cuff of punishment for defiance.

And then there are what Hiccup thinks are voices. There are many voices, speaking as one-and-the-same, but they are all making noises that he cannot understand, crashing into his skull with the force of another wave that wants to suffocate him. He cannot understand them, but he can read the emotion from their sounds and know the basics of their meaning as he might know the voice of an Alpha.

_**Trespassers!** _

This place is not abandoned. It is a place none go to, because it belongs to something mightier and greater than any other creature. Everything fears it. Nothing dares to enter. Not animal. Not human. Not dragon. This is its secluded territory, and none are welcome to it.

**_Strangers!_ **

It is curious all the same. None dare to come here, yet they have. They have come to it carelessly and freely, as if it were nothing, as if they were as comfortable here as they would be in their own nests. They thought they could do so unchallenged, but this is not their territory.

But they are a new thing to it, and that makes them as interesting as much as they are uninvited. It could punish them easily and swiftly if it chose to, and it would be right to do so.

This was its realm.

It ruled here, powerful and alone and forever unseen, too mighty to bother with anything but its own presence which claimed the earth and sky all around them simply by existing.

They were _nothing_ before it! Not even hatchlings! Mere bugs who could be crushed on a whim! They could not even move under the overwhelming surge of its waves, pinned by their throats from its sheer will alone!

_**Purpose?** _

But they must have a reason to enter its domain, and it is all powerful, and it can answer their pleas if there is something that they seek that it decides to give them.

They are new. They are interesting.

If they raise their voices, it will hear them and consider. They may be of use to it. Perhaps they can serve it well. If they have come, they must desire to make a request.

One has something buried inside that is within its power to do something about. It is hidden, but it is there, rooted deep in hiding within his heart-fire.

**_Love._ **

It is a person of great importance; forgotten but remembered. More important than almost any other, despite how far he has tried to bury her away. He has tried to erase her, forget her - but how could he? She was always there from the start, just as his dragon-other was and his dragon-father. She birthed him and raised him, always amongst the family of his flock, and she taught him how to protect their family from traps that bite and kill his kin.

_**Loss.** _

But now she was gone, carried away on the wind after the fires burned her body into ashes. He did not know why she had to go and to leave him and Toothless and Cloudjumper alone.

She had been there, and then... she was gone.

She was gone.

And there was an emptiness there that could not be returned. She was not there, and he didn't know what he could do, so he did the only thing he could, and he made himself forget.

But how could he forget?

_**Dead.** _

He yowled aloud. She was dead! She was their mother, and she was dead! Killed under the sharp-things of angry _pfikingr_ who hunted and trapped and killed his kin! Who tried to trap him and Toothless and hurt them and who she had defended so that they could run and hide from the threat!

She had followed them, she had been right behind, but they had pounced upon her and killed her with their weapons! Cloudjumper had come for them and he had protected them and he had protected her, but it was _too late, too late, too late, dead, dead, dead, DEAD!_ with her blood on the ground coming from her head where it shouldn't!

_**Memory.** _

"Mama Aka..."

He had tried to forget, but now he could see it all before him, laid bare and clear as the day it had happened. He tried to cover his ears, to close his eyes, to mask his sense of smell against Toothless's scales, hiding crouched against the bigger dragon's chest to hide from the All that was in the land and the water and the sky and in his head, but its waves kept hitting him and dragging him into its depths, with no escape from its unseen eyes.

It saw him.

It saw through him.

It saw _into_ him.

Everything he is. It saw it all, and he could not hide, and he could not fight, and he could not run. It had them by their throats and beneath the ocean of its awesome presence, looming like the Alpha of Alphas, defied by nothing and no one, not even their own Alpha who is the King of all dragons, who it can see also held within their minds.

_**Life** _ _**.** _

It could give her back.

It could end the pain that he has hidden from himself and has in turn hid from most of his life, because to remember hurts too much. He was too young and the hurt too big for him to cling to when it happened, and so he ran from it, and buried it, and stomped on top of it so that he would not have to see it or hear it or think of it.

And now that he is confronted by it again, now that the shadows he thought he had fled had led him to a trap that is the worst of traps that he could not spring and was not fast enough and clever enough to get away from, he is given the chance at the unthinkable because the dead do not live again.

But the All can make it possible. It is more powerful than an Alpha and it is as old as the oceans and mountains and skies themselves and it is wise beyond fathom. It is unseen yet it can hold them in its jaws with only a thought. It could take their lives in less than a blink and then spit their lives back out again if it wants to.

It can make her alive again too.

It can do anything.

It is All.

_**Serve.** _

It will grant what he wants most, but it will not do it for nothing in return.

It will hold him, and he will obey, and he will do so willingly and give all that he is to it and it will reward him by returning Mama Aka to them.

He can give her life back and she will be the same as she was and he can stop hiding from the pain of her loss.

But he must serve.

He will belong to the All, and he will grant his desire to have her returned no matter how impossible, because for the All, it is too easy.

But now, for this favor, Hiccup is his forever.

_NO!_ Toothless screams. He screams it so long and so loud and so close to Hiccup's ears as he stands protectively over his dragon-boy, as he has been doing since the smaller dragon first curled into himself beneath the All, that Hiccup goes partially and temporarily deaf, because his other screams did not - _could_ not - reach his other half through the other voices.

But he _must_ scream loud and fierce to drown out the voice of the lying _thing_ that wants their throats so that he can take Hiccup far away from the _wrongness_ that is trying to take his Hiccup- _heart of mine_ from him and is smothering the smaller dragon in a reek of _fear_ and _agony_ and something far too close to the scent of _death_ and _rot_.

He bites Hiccup's shoulder with minimal teeth, and he heaves the dragon-boy as much onto his shoulders as he can manage, folding his wings so that he can keep the other from falling off his back in case he cannot tangle his paws into the straps of the fly-with straight away, and launches himself forward and through openings in the cave.

The All is not their Alpha, and it is _wrong_ and _lying_ and _hunting_ , and it will not take him and his Hiccup-self! They are the fastest and the cleverest of dragons together, and they will flee far away, beyond the reaches of the All that wants their throats, and if they cannot flee from it and from its reaches and its ocean, then they will fight until there is no more breath to steal from the surface as they struggle to reach above the waves!

Hiccup is his, and he voices this truth and this challenge, _MINE!_


End file.
